Back in the galley, Kira made herself some chell, and then she sat at one of the bench tables and inserted the contacts. Fortunately, all of the data from the previous pair had uploaded into the ship’s servers, so she hadn’t lost anything.
She made a note to back up everything in at least two different places. Once connected, alerts marking incoming messages from both
Gregorovich and the Darmstadt’s ship mind, Horzcha Ubuto, appeared in the corner of her vision. Kira opened them to find a collection of telescopic images of the fourth planet—or “planet e,” as it was labeled—from both ships. Appended to the first set was a note:
If you need a different type of imaging, just ask.—Horzcha Ubuto
Then Kira settled in to study the surface of planet e. There was a lot to study. It was 0.7 the diameter of Earth and nearly the same density. That meant water. And possibly native life.
She felt sure the planet had a proper name, but no sense of it came from the Soft Blade.
The pictures she had were mostly from the dark side of the planet. Only a sliver of the terminator between night and day was visible from their current position. The terminator was the most likely place for a city or installation of some kind, as it would be the most temperate area, balanced between the scorching heat of one side and the frigid cold of the other.
The near side of the planet was brown and orange. Vast canyons scraped the surface, and blackish patches marked where Kira thought giant lakes might lie. Ice crusted the poles, more away from the star than toward.
The ships’ telescopes weren’t the largest—neither the Wallfish nor the Darmstadt were scientific vessels—and given the distance, the resolution of the images wasn’t the highest. But Kira did her best, examining each one for anything that seemed familiar.
Unfortunately, nothing struck a chord. There was evidence of habitation (helpfully outlined for her by Gregorovich and Horzcha Ubuto): faint lines that might be roads or canals along a section of the northern hemisphere, but nothing notable.
She lost herself in the images, barely paying attention to her surroundings. When she went to drink the chell, it was already cold, which annoyed her. She sipped at it anyway.
The door to the galley scraped open, and Trig entered. “Hey,” he said. “Did you see what Gregorovich found?”
Kira blinked, slightly disoriented as she cleared her overlays. “No.
What?”
“Here.” He bounced over to her table and activated the built-in display. An image popped up of what appeared to be part of a space station, now broken and abandoned. The shape of it resembled no human-made structure. It was long and jagged, like a length of natural-grown crystal. The station obviously hadn’t spun in order to create a sense of weight for its inhabitants. That meant either they had artificial gravity or the aliens hadn’t minded spending their time in zero-g.
“Well,” said Kira slowly. “I think we know one thing.” “Yeah?” said the kid.
“It sure doesn’t look like the ships the Jellies or the nightmares are building these days. Either they’ve changed styles, or—”
“Another species.” Trig beamed, as if this was the best piece of news ever. “The Vanished, right? The captain told me.”
“That’s right.” She cocked her head. “You’re enjoying this, huh?” “Because it’s cool!” He poked at the display. “How many alien
civilizations do you think are out there? In the whole galaxy, that is.” “I have no idea.… Where did Gregorovich find the station?” “Floating in the Dyson ring.”
Kira drained the last of her chell. “How’s your wrist, by the way?” The kid didn’t have a cast anymore.
Trig rolled his hand in a circle. “All better now. Doc says he wants to see me again in a few weeks, real time, but other than that, I’m good to go.”
“Glad to hear it.”
The kid went to get some food, and Kira returned to studying the survey images of planet e. There was already a new batch waiting for her.
The work wasn’t so different from the prep they’d done before arriving at Adrasteia. Out of habit, Kira found herself scanning for evidence of flora and fauna. There was oxygen in the atmosphere, which was encouraging, and nitrogen too. Thermal imaging seemed to show what might be areas of vegetation near the terminator line, but as with all tidally locked planets, it was difficult to be sure given the screwy atmospheric convections.
While she worked, the crew came in and out of the galley. Kira exchanged a few words with them, but for the most part, she kept her focus on the pictures. Nielsen never appeared, and she wondered if the first officer was still ill from cryo.
New pictures kept tumbling in, and as the spaceships grew closer to planet e, the resolution improved. Mid-afternoon, ship time, Kira received a message from the Darmstadt saying:
Of interest?—Horzcha Ubuto
Attached was an image from the southern hemisphere that showed a complex of buildings secreted in a fold of protective mountains, smack-dab in the middle of the terminator. At the sight of it, Kira felt a chill of ancient memories: fear, uncertainty, and the sadness born of regret. And she saw the Highmost ascend a pedestal, bright in the dawn everlasting—
A small gasp escaped her, and Kira felt a sudden certainty. She swallowed hard before opening a line to Falconi. “I found it. Or … I found something.”
“Show me.” After studying the map, he said, “Seems like I keep asking this, but—are you sure?”
“As I said before we left: as sure as I can be.” “Okay. I’ll talk with Akawe.” The line clicked dead.
Kira made herself another cup of chell and warmed her hands around it while she waited.
Not ten minutes later, Falconi’s voice sounded over the intercom throughout the ship: “Listen up, everyone. Change of plans. We have a destination on planet e, courtesy of Kira. We’re going to do a burn straight there and drop off Kira and a team to check out the location while the Wallfish and the Darmstadt continue back out to the asteroid belt to refuel. It’ll only take four or five hours to reach the belt, so the ships won’t be too far away if we’re needed. Over and out.”
